NOTE: If you don't have the book for whatever reason, or would rather read it on-line, here's the link to the original article as published in The New Yorker in 2018: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/08/lessons-from-the-last-swiss-finishing-school
Answer 2 of the following questions:
Q1: Why are so-called "finishing schools" looked down upon today? Why do so few women attend them, and why do the ones who do tend to hide it or keep it secret? What makes them unfashionable or even politically incorrect?
Q2: While the word "etiquette" has a negative connotation for most people, sounding snooty or pretentious, how does the essay define it? Why is etiquette important for cultural exchange and mutual understanding? Related to this, do you think etiquette is more a set of rules or a philosophy?
Q3: One of the students of the Villa claims that "There are unspoken rules in business and in life...Our success is based at least a little bit on how much we violate them" (48). What does she mean by this, and why might the most important rules in life be "unspoken"?
Q4: At the very end of the essay, the author records a small act of kindness on a funicular (a railway car on a mountain). Why does this kindness surprise her so much, and what does it have to do with the business of etiquette at the villa? Isn't he just being polite?
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